One Last Christmas (Daryl Dixon x Reader)
by Wulferious
Summary: The holidays of the old world aren't exactly what people usually have time for. However, Y/N completely intends to celebrate at least one more Christmas.


Ever since the apocalypse, you had been wondering what would happen to the traditional holidays you loved. For the most part, it was most likely they would disappear without a trace, but you didn't want that to happen, especially when it came to Christmas.

You loved giving presents and seeing smiles on the faces of those you loved. You especially loved Daryl's smiles, which were few and far between, even if the group had comfortably settled down at the prison, and didn't have to fight hordes of zombies every day.

You, and your best friend, Michonne, had gone out on a special run to get presents for everyone on the holiday you loved dearly was within the week. (You kept a calendar.)

Michonne mulled it over with the council, and when she was getting ready to take you both out, you assumed that the run was a go.

"You really want to do this, (Y/N)?" Michonne had asked, as you climbed into the Honda Tuscon, your compound bow sitting happily in your lap. "Yes, I'm sure. I just... want to keep what happiness there is from my old life, you know?" You explained, and Michonne smiled.

"Better get the wrapping paper first." She stated with a grin, closing the driver's door and starting up the car.

That day, the two of you had scavenged a lot of luxury items like toys, books, some new pyjamas for Judith, yarn rolls and knitting needles for the elderly people that had joined the group among other things, but you had something special planned for Daryl.

Of course, he was more interested in making sure that this place was safe, and he almost never relaxed, except for when he slept. This only started happening since you convinced him to share a cell with you. But, you knew a guilty pleasure or two of his.

At the department store you and Michonne were exploring, you had ventured into the mechanic's area, where you grabbed a large cardboard box and stuffed a few maintenance tools into it, as well as some polishing wax and other things that he'd need for his motorcycle.

You thought that this would be the best present for him, as you saw the only joy he got out of life was messing around with the bike, other than spending time with you, of course.

"Got everything?" Michonne asked, as the two of you were loaded with all kinds of different things, as well as at least 12 rolls of wrapping paper and an arsenal of tape dispensers.

"Yeah, I think we do," you beamed.

When you got back, you brought a place mat to the field where Rick did his farming, as most of the time he was there alone.

This way, the kids wouldn't come snooping and see what you were doing.

You spent hours after hours carefully wrapping all of the presents you intended on giving in a few days. Candies, toys, board games, simple items that might make everyone's lives a bit better.

You wrapped Daryl's gift first, labelled it, and flipped the box over, lest he comes looking for you.

You were in the middle of wrapping up Carl's gift of comic books when the familiar padding of grass sounded, and Daryl's shoes came into view out of the corner of your eye. Your crossbow-wielding boyfriend approached your workstation, sitting himself down in the grass next to you.

You smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek before going back to wrapping the presents.

"You're really doin' this, huh?" He asked, grabbing a smaller box and flipping it over, admiring your handy work. "Yeah... I just think that everyone could use a morale lift this time of year, you know? These aren't 18-pound turkeys or masterfully elf-crafted toys delivered by Santa... but people deserve the little enjoyable things in life." You explained and giggled at Daryl.

He looked you in the eye as he grabbed a roll of wrapping paper and swiped your scissors. "If you're really gonna act like Santa, you're gonna need at least a little help." He explained, grabbing a book and cutting off a random amount of wrapping paper from the roll.  
"Do you even know how to wrap?" You asked jokingly, and he shook his head, chuckling.

"Here," you laughed. "Let me show you."

-

The night of Christmas Eve, you had taken all of the presents after everyone was asleep and set them outside the cells of all the people you 'bought' presents for. (Which was just about everyone. It's not like you had to spend money this time around.)

For the kids, you labelled some of the better items to say 'From Santa'. You weren't sure if they'd fall for it as another Christmas had passed sine the outbreak, but you still wanted to keep the spirit.

After delivering all the presents, you made your way to your and Daryl's cell back in Cell Block C, where the 'original' group stayed. Quickly, you changed into your pyjamas and hid Daryl's present under your beds.

(The two of you put two beds together to make more room for sleeping.)

Climbing under the covers, you realised that Daryl was still awake. You hoped he didn't see you hide the present.

"All done bein' Santa?" He asked, a rare smile appearing on his face as he wrapped an arm around you and pulled you close. "Yeah." You replied, snuggling up to him.

After all this time, you finally had something to look forward to that would put smiles on people's faces. "You know, you're single-handedly give people a day of forgetting what's out there," Daryl whispered.

"That's my goal," you replied, yawning. "I just hope it works."

"I'm sure it will."

-

As soon as the sun began to flood in through the barred windows and into Cell Block C, you were ready to see smiles on everyone's faces.

Daryl was still asleep, but the two of you had manoeuvred during the night and you didn't have to worry about waking him up when you moved.

Doing your best to contain your excitement, you grabbed your Christmas themed dress from the small dresser that you and Daryl moved into the cell. You pulled on a pair of black tights and slid the dress on.

You also popped on a Santa Hat and a pair of Mary Jane shoes. Your whole outfit was completely new, as you had taken the initiative to grab whatever was cute, clean and your size from when you went 'shopping' with Michonne.

Walking around, you saw that other people had woken up and noticed the presents outside their cells, beaming as they ripped open the wrapping paper. Carl even came out of his cell to hug you when you passed by.

Ever since the outbreak, this has been the happiest day of your life. Nobody was gloomy or depressed today. The smallest of things in the darkest of times can put a smile on someone's face.

The fact that someone thought of them and was generous to them was sometimes better than what they had received. Even though you wouldn't receive anything yourself, the fact that these survivors did was a gift to you.

You made a run around the cell blocks, wishing people a happy holiday and hugging those who wanted to.

Content, but not content enough, you ventured back to your cell, where Daryl still lay, snoring. Approaching the bed, you gently shook him, placing a good kiss on his head to wake him up.

"Come on, Hawk-Eye. Wake up." Slowly, Daryl turned over in the sheets, already a sarcastic look plastered on his face. "I thought I asked you to stop calling me that." He stated, stretching.

"Well, it's better than me copying Carol's nicknames," you countered, and both of you emitted a laugh.

Looking down at the mattress of your connected beds, you smiled. You still had one present left to give. "Gimme a sec," you stated, as you reached underneath the bed and pulled out the box you had wrapped a few days before.

"Merry Christmas," you sang with a smile and handed him your best work of wrapping. Daryl eyed you with a smile. "Thank you," he whispered, as he began to carefully open the wrapping paper, trying not to rip it. When the paper was finally off the box, he opened it, revealing all of the maintenance items in the box.

"How did you know I needed to fix up the bike?" He asked, setting the box aside and pulling you closer to him, snuggling up. "Intuition," you chimed, leaning your head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around you.

"Well, this is the first Christmas gift I've ever gotten. Thank you for that," he said quietly, and you only hummed in response, as a choice set of words could bring up some bad memories for him.

After a few minutes of the blissful silence you always enjoyed when you were around Daryl, he spoke again. "I've got something for you, too," Daryl muttered as he moved to grab a crudely wrapped box from under his pillow.

"Do you now?" You asked, happily. "Let's open it together." You offered, not wanting to move away from his warmth.

"Fine with me."

The two of you ripped open the paper, not caring if the beautifully decorated paper was destroyed. Daryl then opened up the box. In it, there were two cheap-looking, but beautiful wedding rings sitting on the cushion, the girls' ring glistening in the light through the prison windows.

Trying not to gasp, you looked up at Daryl. You were beaming, even happier than you expected to be today in general.

"This might be cheesy," Daryl said with a laugh, "But Glenn and I found these on a run. And I guess, now's a good a time as ever." You continued to smile and you nodded up at him. "Of course... yes. I will." You giggled at the cheesy romance movie-equal moment you were having with your "hardassed redneck" boyfriend, but the feeling of overwhelming happiness you felt when Daryl slipped the delicate ring onto your ring finger kept you from giving a damn.

As soon you, in turn, slipped Daryl's ring on his finger, the two of you held up your hands and started laughing. You had forgotten about the horrors outside of the prison and the fact that you were in a prison in the first place.

You knew that this Christmas might be your last. But memories of one last Christmas and the smiles of those you loved during the end of the world was better than anything you knew before.


End file.
